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Alien life forms may be "thinking machines"

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LAN_403

Conundrum

Tue Sept 13 2011, 07:28PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

Possible, if the L in the Drake equation for biological lifeforms is 100-200 years but the L for machine intelligences may be a factor of 1000 times this.

In fact, a hypothetical machine intelligence may be able to travel vast distances by sending a microprobe with enough nanotechnology to reconstitute itself upon encountering a compatible environment using the stored data in its memory.

The microprobe itself could be powered remotely by laser beam, with a series of probes at regular intervals to both refocus the beam and send data back along it.

This gives several opprtunities to detect them, both the transmitted data which should appear as a polarisation offset light source at a series of wavelengths (aka the "optical water hole) not normally seen in nature.
Possibly in the low infrared as these seem to be able to travel large distances with less attenuation.

-A

Turkey9

Wed Sept 14 2011, 04:49AM

Registered Member #1451 Joined: Wed Apr 23 2008, 03:48AM
Location: Boulder, Co
Posts: 661

Interesting. I don't know if I agree that the machines would search out places with abundant energy and matter. The machines were after all produced by biological beings to make life easier. Just look at our society. We created tools, then better tools, then better tools until the tools started to resemble characteristics of thinking. Even if the intelligence of the machines surpassed that of their creators, they would have the basic drive for happiness that was the reason they were created. If the machines are truly sentient, then they will not be the simple "must eat and replicate" animals that science fiction likes to believe. I think they would venture into the universe exploring and trying to make contact with other intelligent life.

That of course is assuming that the alien race that created the machines has similar morals to us. I think that they would have to in order to develop technology to the point of intelligent machines.

william L

Wed Sept 14 2011, 05:13AM

Registered Member #3093 Joined: Mon Aug 09 2010, 11:40PM
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Posts: 68

I don't see any reason that "machine" artificial intelligence couldn't become highly capable. When you think about it, whether it is complex carbon based life, or complex semiconductor based life, it could have easily been chance that we ended up not being what we define as machines today. As in, what if cells were made of silicon? what if we had fuel cell lungs? What if life as we know it COULD have been constructed from micro-electronics?

What i'm saying is, I think machine life could just as easily have been formed as what we define as life. Given that, I would bet anything "machines" could evolve on their own, and possibly become super intelligent.

but this is all speculation. :D

and on that note, because we search out places with abundant energy and matter, why shouldn't these hypothetical lifeforms?

Ash Small

Wed Sept 14 2011, 09:43AM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

Turkey9 wrote ...

That of course is assuming that the alien race that created the machines has similar morals to us. I think that they would have to in order to develop technology to the point of intelligent machines.

There is still plenty of slavery on this planet, but I agree that 'mutual interest' does seem to produce better results.

william L wrote ...

and on that note, because we search out places with abundant energy and matter, why shouldn't these hypothetical lifeforms?

I also agree. our 'embryonic' excursions into space are part of a quest for energy and resources, partly so that we can escape this solar system before the sun goes supernova.

There is no reason why silicon based life forms couldn't develop. Silicon and carbon have similar properties (one above the other in the periodic table)

personally, I've believed for a long time in Sir Fred Hoyle's theories that life 'floats' around the universe as frozen micro-organisms on tiny specks of dust, floating down through atmospheres, and combining together to form more complex life forms that are suited to the conditions specific to the planet they happen to land on.

There is plenty of 'circumstantial evidence' for this, new strains of viruses, etc., but even this doesn't rule out other, stranger, silicon based life forms, or whatever. This planet favours carbon based life forms at the moment.

Conundrum

Wed Sept 14 2011, 07:19PM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4061

Another intriguing possibility is that alien life may consist of software alone. Its method of propagation would be to send a signal to nearby stars, and when received instruct the machines it inhabits to retransmit the message.

-A

Shrad

Wed Sept 14 2011, 10:59PM

Registered Member #3215 Joined: Sun Sept 19 2010, 08:42PM
Location:
Posts: 780

and maybe we could just be a bug in a vast simulation software... taking place in a dimension where our suns would be atom nucleÃ¯ and our planets electrons...

Ash Small

Wed Sept 14 2011, 11:47PM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

I treat all my machines/creations as children, I'm just there to 'nurture' them.....

(What does this say about our future?)

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